


Selected Notes on the Mysterious Disappearance of Doctor Kindermann

by Froggimus Rex (Froggimus_Rex)



Category: Die Anstalt
Genre: Epistolary, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-17
Updated: 2008-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:43:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1639526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froggimus_Rex/pseuds/Froggimus%20Rex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An epistolary tale examining the mysterious disappearance of controversial psychologist Doctor Johann Kindermann whilst attending the 3rd International Congress of Unusual Psychiatry in Nuuk, Greenland.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Selected Notes on the Mysterious Disappearance of Doctor Kindermann

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whetherwoman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whetherwoman/gifts).



> Massive thanks to SteelNeko for both betaing, and being there for general hand-holding/cheering the Yuletide Newbie on duties.
> 
> Written for whetherwoman.

> **To:** Theodore Brant (t.brant@editorial.psychologynow.com)  
>  **From:** Bryan Everett (b.everett@archives.psychologynow.com)  
>  **Subject:** re: Request For Article Research - Kindermann Disappearance  
>  **Attachments:** _kindermann_research_11_16_08.pdf_ (Download)
>
>> Theo,
>> 
>> Here's the collated research you wanted for that article on Kindermann for next month's issue. The hardcopy should be couriered to you be the end of the day.
>> 
>> I've taken the liberty of marking some of the more interesting ones for you.
>> 
>> -Bryan
>>
>>> >B.  
>  >  
>  >They've got me doing a piece on Dr. Johann Kindermann,  
>  >you know that one who vanished couple of years back.  
>  >The teddy bear shrink. See what you can find out about  
>  >the guy and if they ever figured out what happened to him.  
>  >Also dig up any articles we've done on him before this  
>  >so I can look them over.  
>  >  
>  >\- T.  
>  >  
>  >p.s. I know we're hardly _The International Journal of_  
>  >Psychoanalysis around here, but I seriously don't know  
>  >what weirds me out more, that we're doing an article  
>  >on a guy who was a shrink for teddy bears, or that we've  
>  >done more than one already.

* * *

**Item A.01 - Article from Aug-2000 Edition of _Pychology Now!_**

> **Show Me a Sane Toy and I Will Cure Him For You.**  
>  _Kip Lewis_  
> 
> 
> Never one to shy away from controversy, Doctor Johann Kindermann has once again made waves in the psychiatric establishment.
> 
> The outspoken doctor, already widely known for his radical (or revolutionary, depending on who you're talking too) theories, has finally taken things one step further. Having somehow gained financial backing from both the public and private sectors, as well as reportedly sinking no small amount of his own savings into the project, Dr. Kindermann has opened his very own psychiatric institute. To those of you who've been following Kindermann's work, it should come as no surprise that this is to be no ordinary clinic.
> 
> His patients? Plush toys.
> 
> That's right, Kindermann's new institute is dedicated solely to the treatment of neurotic teddy bears and schizoid rag dolls. When asked for a statement, the doctor had this to say: 
>
>> _For too long the most vulnerable of our society have gone without the care and support they most desperately need. It is my hope that this place shall become an asylum for them in all meanings of the word, until that day which they no longer have need of it._
> 
> Rest assured, readers, we at _Psychology Now!_ will be continuing to follow Kindermann's efforts most closely in the future.
>
>> **The Parapluesch Institute For the Treatment of Mistreated Toys**  
>  Head Psychologist: Doctor Johann Kindermann  
>  Telephone: 08801 631  
>  Fax: 08801 623  
>  Website: http://www.parapluesch.de/

  


* * *

**Item C.01 - Transcript of interview with Doctor Alexis Klements dated January-15-2006**

> **Interviewer:**
>      It says here that you've known Kindermann for a number of years prior to your employment under him?
> **Klements:**
>      Yes, we first met back when I was still at university, well before he established this place. He was one of my lecturers.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      What did he teach? 
> **Klements:**
>      Ethics. Although after lectures, he would stay and talk about his work to those students who were interested.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      Students like you?
> **Klements:**
>      Yes. I found his theories fascinating, even back then, and I think it's safe to say that he was the major influence on the decision to choose toy psychology as my specialisation.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      Which is how you ended up here?
> **Klements:**
>      Doctor Kindermann was starting up a research project in Japan, how the differences in the kinds stresses different cultures exert affect the kinds of neuroses that develop in their toys. He needed someone to step in here, and frankly I leapt at the chance. There are still very few opportunities for those in this field to practice. 
> 
> I've been here ever since. I've found myself making real connections and progress with the patients, and Doctor Kinderman enjoyed the freedom to work on projects and to attend conferences, like the one he was attending when...well, this happened, without having to worry about the patients being neglected.
> 
> **Interveiwer:**
>      I'm sorry I have to ask this, but in that time have you ever known Kindermann to have any enemies?
> **Klements:**
>      Doctor Kindermann is...was a great man, with great ideas, which always bring their own share of enemies, especially when they go against the ideas of the establishment. But it's the kind of enmity that is fought with grants and articles...not what you're suggesting.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      Thank you. One final question though. Why the sock-puppet?
> **Klements:**
>      Oh, habit from dealing with the patients I'm afraid, it happens sometimes.
> 
> _[End of Interview]_

  


* * *

**Item C.02 - Transcript of interview with Sister Berthe Mueller dated January-15-2006**

> **Mueller:**
>      How long have I known the Doctor? I have worked here since the founding of this asylum, so shortly before that.
> **Interviewer:**
>      You didn't know him prior to that?
> **Mueller:**
>      No, I answered a want ad the Doctor placed in several of the nursing journals for a ward nurse for his new clinic. That was the first time we met.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      What did you think of job he was offering?
> **Mueller:**
>      I wondered if he was really the one who should be _running_ an asylum, to be honest. A clinic for soft toys? But the pay was good, and he seemed sincere enough, so I took the job.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      And how have you found working here to be like?
> **Mueller:**
>      It's a job, much like any other. At first it was hard to get over what the patients are, but in my time I have had worse ones to treat. They are quiet, small enough to handle easily, they are rarely violent. It is also much harder for them to hurt themselves than it would be for a human patient.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      And Kindermann?
> **Mueller:**
>      He was something of a strange man, odd ideas, but a kind-hearted one. He did not like to see anyone suffer, even when it was necessary for their own good. For example, he knew that he must sometimes use electro-shock treatment, but he would feel much guilt afterwards. Even when the patient was able to be helped as a result, he felt guilty.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      Not the kind of man to make enemies easily then?
> **Mueller:**
>      He was not naive, but he did believe that any enemy could be made a friend with enough time and effort.
> **Interveiwer:**
>      I see. Thank you for your time, Sister Mueller.
> 
> _[End of Interview]_

  


* * *

**Item F.01 - Announcement for the 3rd International Congress of Unusual Psychiatry**

> #  The 3rd International Congress of Unusual Psychiatry
> 
> ### Being a conference between those branches of psychiatry and psychology most often overlooked by the mainstream disciplines, for the discussion and and furtherance of same. 
> 
> ###    
>  Keynote Address:
> 
> **Dr Johann Kindermann**  
>  _Pioneer in the field of Toy Psychology  
> _
>
>> **Scheduled Events include:**
>> 
>> _Pyschology: Abnormal or Paranormal?_
>>      Dr. S. Loomis leads a round-table discussion on cases where a spree- or serial-killer appears to have more than just simple psychosis fuelling their actions
>> _Treating the Alien Psyche_
>>      Doctors L. Samson & K. Heightmeyer, along with Keynote Speaker Doctor J. Kindermann discuss some of the difficulties inherent in treating non-human patients.
>> _The Messiah Complex: A re-examination._
>>      Doctor P. Silberman presents his paper on how advances in quantum theory and our knowledge of space-time force a need for a new understanding of how we diagnose those patients who believe themselves to have foreknowledge of the future.
> 
> ###    
>  23rd - 30th December 2005  
>  Hans Egede Hotel, Nuuk, Greenland

  


* * *

**Item I.01 - Last known communication from Doctor Johann Kindermann**

> _December 24th, 2005_  
>  Nuuk, Greenland  
> 
> 
> My dearest colleague,
> 
> Whilst this latest conference is focused on the future of our profession, it is instead its past I find my focus drifting towards. Little wonder, given that I doubt that the organisers' choice of location was a result of coincidence or serendipity, but instead was quite deliberate.
> 
> We both know that in world of medicine, the field of psychiatry is a relatively young one, and that the practice of treating our particular set of patients younger still. So young that if we were to think of it as a child, it would be merely a newborn babe, one who had a difficult and ugly birth, full of complications and mistakes, often made with only the best of intentions.
> 
> Long before the events that eventually led me to found the asylum, when I was still merely a humble student of medicine and you not even that, my teachers at the university, brilliant men and women all, took great care to impress upon me the wrongs, both witting and unwitting, once done to those society found inconvenient. Those either damaged in ways they did not yet have the tools to mend, or who just couldn't fit. I learnt of Bedlam, of the madhouses of the past, great only in the harm they often did those they claimed to help. I learnt of liberties taken, and breaches of trust that should not have been countenanced, and even then, I vowed that if I could help it, I would not stand for advantage to be taken of those who lacked the necessary defences.
> 
> You can well imagine my reaction, my dear friend, of learning that this hotel stands but a few hours journey from our Bedlam, the place that shames us by having needed to exist, because we as a whole did not yet recognise the need, the deep wrong being done to those who had been created "defective", a place of exile for the unwanted, a self-made Sungai Buloh for the rejected. The misfit toys.
> 
> The Island.
> 
> One of the attending doctors, Dr Ives, who spent much of his boyhood in these parts, has kindly volunteered to fly me across early tomorrow morning, and to act as a guide on the island. He claims that he can show me the place where King Moonracer used to gather his council, such as it was.
> 
> After I return, I will write to you once more.
> 
> Best regards,  
>  Dr. Kindermann.

  


* * *

**Item J.04 - Excerpt from Search and Rescue report dated December-26-2005.**

> Sadly, thus far our efforts to find any trace of Dr. J. Kindermann, Dr. B. Ives, or the Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey that the pair took off from Nuuk Airport yesterday morning at 0450 hours have proved unsuccessful. So far, we have concentrated our search along their filed flight plans, which had them headed due north from Nuuk.
> 
> At approx. 1300 hours, Lt. Davidsen spotted what looked to be wreckage from the craft floating on the water's surface, but upon closer inspection, rather than the fibreglass expected from a SeaRey, the debris turned out to be carved and varnished wood, similar to that used in the construction of sleighs. Entangled with the largest fragment of wood were the remnants of leather straps, possibly some sort of harness, as well as scraps of what appears to be red velvet, and burlap. It is as of yet unknown how this debris came to be so far out at sea.

  


* * *


End file.
